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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. cap — a lid
  3. stem — to come from
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. lie — to recline
  8. wound — an injury
  9. cap — of ice
  10. content — happy
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. content — the amount
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. chair — a leader
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. wound — an injury
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. cap — a hat
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. perch — the fish

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com